Abu Ghraib suit by ex-inmates can move ahead, judge rules

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — After nine years of fits and starts, dismissals and reinstatements, a federal lawsuit filed by one-time inmates at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq against civilian interrogators who worked there is moving ahead.

“We’re not dismissing this case. It’s going to go forward,” U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema said at the conclusion of a hearing Friday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria.

It’s been 13 years since photos documenting abusive treatment of inmates at Abu Ghraib became public, and nine years since the lawsuit was first filed against CACI Premier Technology, which supplied civilian interrogators to the prison on a contract basis.

The three inmates who are plaintiffs in the case allege the CACI interrogators directed a conspiracy in which they ordered military police to soften up the detainees for questioning with tactics that amounted to torture, including beatings, sleep deprivation, forced nudity and sexual humiliation.

The suit has been dismissed multiple times, only to be reinstated each time by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond.

The most recent dismissal came when a judge ruled the lawsuit could not be settled by the judiciary, because it would require a judge to question the war making powers and policies of the executive branch.

But the appeals court ruled that CACI could not escape liability under the political questions doctrine if it acted unlawfully at Abu Ghraib, even if CACI was carrying out the military’s wishes in doing so.

Brinkema reiterated at Friday’s hearing that CACI would be held responsible for unlawful conduct, even if it was carried out at the military’s behest.